


Black Pearl

by baeksbabygirl, exohousewarming



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merman, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 17:23:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12370443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeksbabygirl/pseuds/baeksbabygirl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/exohousewarming/pseuds/exohousewarming
Summary: Prompt 549He didn’t mean to fall in love with the human man, but after hearing Baekhyun gush about his own human, and seeing how caring and kind Junmyeon is…well, Kyungsoo just kind of falls head over tail for him.





	Black Pearl

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is like the softest thing I’ve ever written so hopefully it came out decently well? Thank you to the mods for being so patient with me (even though it took me foooooorever to finish. And to my two betas cause ya’ll are the best. Thank you all for reading as well, I hope you enjoy it <3

“What does it feel like?” Junmyeon asked, tone reflective and curious, with his face turned toward the sky. He was lying in the sand, feet just barely able to toe the coming water as it lapped up towards him. It was peaceful, here at the private beach where no one came. There used to be people that came here all the time, but hadn’t since the news had shattered the public outlets.

People, whole families, had died out here. Boating accidents because of the sharp rocks in the shallows. Merfolk that trapped sailors and fisherman, and even innocent beach goers. The only people that wanted to come were the camera crews, the news anchors. But Junmyeon’s family had set up security footage, cameras all along the beach’s entrance, and the road inlet that they all would have to take to get to the private beach.

The police had been called far too many times, with far too many warnings to leave the private family and their beach residence alone. They, thankfully, hadn’t come snooping for a few months. And it was why Junmyeon was lying the way he was.

With a merman perched close to his feet, his tail submerged in the shallow waters before them. 

“What does what feel like?” he responded, voice like a sharp tongue but soft all at the same time. It was as beautiful as the glass shards that sometimes washed up along the shore, or the colorful specks of pink and blue sand that Junmyeon could see amidst the white and brown. 

Junmyeon sat up from where he was, elbows going back into the sand so that he could see the merman’s face. He had learned long ago what his name was - Kyungsoo. And he knew some of the reason why the merman was drawn to the beach, but not entirely. He had at one time explained that he came to the shore, or close enough to it, because Junmyeon was kind.

He had a slight idea of why the merman said that - believing it was partially because he had saved the merman’s life so many months ago. But he wouldn’t think of that now, explaining his own question to the merman so he could understand.

“The tail. I mean, I know it’s a part of you, but what does it feel like exactly?” Junmyeon asked, hoping he wasn’t crossing a line that he couldn’t see.

Kyungsoo only smiled shyly, moving so that his tail was now much closer to Junmyeon, but was still submerged in the water. He nodded at himself, his chin then pointing at where Junmyeon rested against the sand.

“You can touch it.” he said, and then beat his tail against the incoming, soft waves. The waves always broke against the rocks first, so what did come into the shore was mild compared to the true waves out further. Kyungsoo had talked about the unsettling waves a few times, detailing how hard his tail had to pump against the currents to get anywhere out there. He wasn’t as vulnerable as a human caught in the twists and turns of the waves and currents, but his body still had to beat against it.

Junmyeon hesitated at first, thinking that perhaps this was a trick and that he had grown far too comfortable around the merman over the last several months. It had been months though, since the two had met.

The first time, Junmyeon had been exploring along the rocks out past the pier. He hadn’t imagined ever finding one of the merfolk that so many people were scared of. They constantly spoke about how feared the creatures were - once a legend now grown to flesh. How the creatures only pulled innocents into their waters to feast upon their sun-kissed skin. 

He had found Kyungsoo with his tail stuck between the rocks, part of his tail having knocked over a boulder in the water as he was passing through, and slamming into the sharp edges so that he had started to bleed and attract other, curious creatures. Junmyeon had not been sure what he was seeing at first, eyes going wide when he realized it wasn’t a person left dead and bobbing in the water.

It had taken him a bit of effort to save the merman - the one whose name he had not known for a full three months after the rescue mission.

And now the two were talking and Kyungsoo was offering him to feel, to touch, his tail. Junmyeon had touched it before - when he had rescued the “dangerous” creature. But this was a bit different. That had been absolutely necessary to save Kyungsoo’s life, and to stop him from bleeding out in the water and attracting sharks too close to the shore.

This was Kyungsoo giving him permission. So he reached out with his hand and ran a few fingers down the length of the tail, letting his arm submerge in the water as well, and looking so awestruck at such a powerful, beautiful piece of work.

Kyungsoo’s tail was absolutely gorgeous. Junmyeon had seen it beneath his fingertips before, when he had cleansed and sanitized and disinfected it from the wounds Kyungsoo had gotten from the sharp rocks. He had seen the way it twitched as Kyungsoo awoke, and then how it had moved swiftly through the water, moving him with two easy strokes halfway across Junmyeon’s view, submerging into the depths. It held sparks of colors, some of which Junmyeon wasn’t even sure he knew to name. Pieces of gold and azure and cerulean. It was a mess of beauty that nothing and no one could ever compare.

Junmyeon was half expecting Kyungsoo to take away Junmyeon’s permissions, to swipe his tail to the side and swim off like he did sometimes. There were those few, rare times, when Kyungsoo stayed longer than an hour with him, and today seemed to be one of those days. The merman let Junmyeon touch his tail, run his fingers across the closely knit scales, and he didn’t move. A willing subject.

Both of them were quiet except for their breathing and the push of the water. It was a peaceful, intimate moment. One that Junmyeon wouldn’t forget.

“You’re beautiful.” he whispered.

In the next second, his hand was left empty, fingers no longer touching the powerful, gorgeous merman’s tail that gleamed in the moon’s light. Instead his fingers caught at empty water, the tension in the waves pushing against his skin as he felt the push of it, the waves creasing as something forceful moved within it.

Kyungsoo had pushed away from the shore, and with no more than a few powerful strokes of his tail, he was past the rocks and far away.

With a sigh and a groan as he lifted onto his legs, Junmyeon dusted off as many flecks of sand as he could, his toes wet from the water, and his arm wet up to the elbow. With one last glance towards the water, he started walking back towards the beach house that his family had owned for decades now - and of which he now lived in alone…

The merman watched as the human male dusted off his clothing, took one last glance out at the rippling water, and then trudged back up into his home, where he would sleep and eat and write. 

Kyungsoo had seen the human male so many times step into that house, turn the light on in the study and sit down, pen scrawling against paper like it was life or death. He found it interesting to sit there and watch by the rocks, even when there were others that came up alongside him and asked why he was so fascinated with the human man, when so many of their kind tried to kill merfolk.

The one that came up to join in his view was another merman by the name of Baekhyun. His tail was covered in shimmering silver, with patches here and there of azure and pearl. The two were not truly friends, but Baekhyun had become a bit of a menace, a bother, but familiar enough as well that the two were able to talk and relate to one another now.

Baekhyun was one of the more tame of the merfolk in these areas. Kyungsoo knew that some of the humans’ news outlets and worries were absolutely correct about their kind.

There were some that killed for sport, some that dragged their human prey down into the salty depths of the ocean around these parts. It was close enough to the human shores that there were plenty merfolk out here that stayed simply to catch a quick bite or to fool around with the humans.

But there were also some like Kyungsoo and Baekhyun that just enjoyed watching them, curious to see what they would do or how they would react to certain things. Kyungsoo knew that Baekhyun was one of the few mermen in the area that had actually sprouted legs and gone on land to speak with some of the humans. He was constantly talking about his human, a man named Jongdae that made small wooden boats and sold them across the bay. 

Kyungsoo was pretty sure that Baekhyun had fallen a bit in love with this Jongdae, but he refused to make comment on it, as it wasn’t really any of his business.

“You let him touch your tail today, didn’t you?” Baekhyun asked as both of them continued to watch - the lights in the house flickering on, and then the human man’s face appearing in the light by the window. They were hidden behind the rocks well enough, and besides it was too dark for the human’s eyes to pick up anything that wasn’t bright or large. The two mermen by the rocks blended in with the scenery enough to go inconspicuous.

Kyungsoo wasn’t worried about the man seeing him, though.

He narrowed his eyes on Baekhyun beside him and scowled, “Were you watching us, Hyun?” he asked, tone unforgiving. Baekhyun only caved to a bit of light laughter, the sound ricocheting off of the rocks and deep waters. If Kyungsoo wasn’t too familiar with the sound of his laughter, and didn’t know what Baekhyun was like personality wise, then he would have found the laugh beautiful or even a little attractive. With its large strokes and hard sounds. The sound of the merman’s laughter could change pitch so that it was a soft giggle or a larger chuckle. 

Baekhyun shrugged, “I find it interesting, you and your human. He is so unlike Jongdae that it’s...fun to watch the two of you interact? You flee from him so often, when it is so clear he only wants to love you.” he shrugged, shoulders sinking back into the water and the ripple of his tail besides Kyungsoo’s evident in the way the water moved around them. “You love him back, don’t you?”

Kyungsoo had never known the meaning of love - he had not known it among the merfolk, and he did not think it was possible to share such a thing with a human, let alone any other creature on land or sea. Baekhyun had proven him different, with the way he gushed about his human, of the way Baekhyun spoke of him taking care of him, feeding him, kissing him…

He wasn’t going to think about that. Not now.

“I don’t know.” he said, while in reality it was only a half truth. He was not sure if what he was feeling was love, or simple curiosity. Baekhyun knew better, and as his tail pushed him away from the rocks, just barely skimming the side of Kyungsoo’s tail as he swam backwards, the other merman shook his head and replied.

“You’ll know, when the timing is right. When the moon shines on his face and suddenly you just know that the goddess has blessed you. She gives us what we need, what we deserve. And I am sure you deserve him, Soo.” 

As Kyungsoo turned to spit out a retort of what he really needed - for Baekhyun to leave him be - the other merman was gone, the only sign of his being there the strong rippling in the water that told of his departure. 

He wondered when he would actually listen to the goddess. Because he was already pretty sure the moon was shining down on the human man, lighting his features and drawing Kyungsoo in. 

The moon had been trying to tell him from that very first night…

Weeks passed before Junmyeon saw Kyungsoo again, or at least, before Kyungsoo came past the rocks again. 

He was sure the merman thought that Junmyeon could not see him hiding amongst the rocks in the middle of the night, or even during the day, but Junmyeon had a perfect view of the rocks from his study, and he had learned over the past few months to catch the pale of his skin as it stood stark against the black rocks. Though much less pale when he was up close, he was far too evident against the dark rocks, like he was a shimmering piece of the moon fallen to earth, landing in the water.

Junmyeon tried not to look out into the waters and by the rocks too often, so as not to give away the fact that he could see the merman waiting there. He stayed there until Junmyeon turned the light off in the study, and he could never be sure if it was for simple curiosity’s sake, or if the merman had some sort of motive in watching him as he wrote in his journal every night.

When Kyungsoo came past the rocks after a few weeks of staying away, Junmyeon apologized.

“I didn’t mean to scare you away the last time.” but even as he said it, Kyungsoo’s expression turned to confusion. He shook his head, speaking up more than Junmyeon had heard in a few weeks.

“You didn’t scare me away.” he confessed, “I...I needed to go that night. There are others that would grow too curious if I stayed too long, and others, too, that would harm you if they knew I had taken an interest.” the merman’s own words seemed to startle himself, because in the next second his eyes were widening in reply to hearing his own voice.

Junmyeon simply grinned, hands marking up the sand at his sides as he laughed a little, “You don’t have to be worried for me. My family has owned this land and known about your kind for a while. My father before me even made friends with some of your kind, and my grandmother, before she passed, spoke of a young mermaid that promised her safety for as long as the mermaid lived.” Junmyeon shrugged, “Your kind doesn’t worry me.”

That also seemed to take the merman by surprise, but less so than his own words had. Junmyeon waited for Kyungsoo to speak up again. But the two sat in silence for several minutes before the merman cleared his throat.

“W-would you show me your home? I want to see where you write, and what it looks like to live there, compared to the ocean.” 

Junmyeon would have been surprised to hear that Kyungsoo knew he wrote if it wasn’t for the fact that he had seen him so often looking up and into his study from his place behind the rocks. Kyungsoo had probably seen him more times than Junmyeon realized, sitting there for hours on end and scrawling ideas and words that had so much, yet so little meaning in the grand scheme of things. 

Most days, he couldn’t decipher what he was writing, just that it was a little beautiful in its own way.

Still, Junmyeon couldn’t imagine how Kyungsoo would even get inside the house if he was not carrying him, was not touching him. His mouth fell open a little, trying to think of the words, before Kyungsoo shook his head.

“We can change, sprout human-like legs, and walk ashore. It is dangerous for us to be so far from the water, but as long as I can still hear the waves pushing against the rocks, I will be fine.” and the merman nodded toward the pier, asking without further words if Junmyeon will help him get up onto the wooden slat that led onto the dry land. 

Junmyeon supposed it would be a little easier to walk afterwards if he was on a flat surface than on the sand, trying to push himself up from the water and then try to stand and walk across the uneven surface. So he nodded and got up carefully, watching as the merman’s tail spun and pushed him forward in the water, the waves rippling as they always did, and then the shimmer of his tail a bit mesmerizing.

How could anyone see such a beautiful creature and think of them as dangerous?

But Junmyeon knew better, and even Kyungsoo had hinted at some of his kind being bloodthirsty and dangerous towards humans. The hint that others of Kyungsoo’s kind could take a liking or interest in him as Kyungsoo had, and choose to make his life a living hell.

Or a watery hell at that.

Junmyeon ignored the small warning in the back of his head, knowing he could trust Kyungsoo. The merman had already been inside his home, and he had already trusted Junmyeon enough with his life to ask him to allow him entry into his home. The two had known each other enough, with Junmyeon trusting the merman not to attack him while he lay against the sand, completely unprotected, and then there was Kyungsoo who swam in shallow waters despite there being a human right there in front of him.

They were both toeing the line these past few months, but it was starting to feel natural and...right for them to be together in this way. 

By the time Junmyeon had walked over to the end of the pier, Kyungsoo had already pulled himself part of the way up, the metal rods on either end his tools to push himself, and his tail working as a propellor of sorts to work himself more of the way up as his upper body muscles failed him. It made sense that a merman’s tail was stronger than his arms.

Junmyeon didn’t waste time in helping him though, twisting him around so that he was now sitting on the pier. And then he witnessed the most awe-inspiring thing in his entire life.

Kyungsoo’s tail disappearing.

The beauty of his tail did not disappear completely, even when what remained in place of the strong muscles was a pair of legs and a very naked Kyungsoo. Junmyeon hadn’t thought about what would happen or appear when Kyungsoo lost his tail to human-like appendages, but he just stood there awestruck and speechless, watching as the glittering azure and cerulean scales disappeared.

Now there was only a hint of the mystic in Kyungsoo’s being, the scales still sidling up on the tops of his feet, like he had been doused in glitter rather than had a merman’s tail twenty seconds ago.

And in all the shock, Junmyeon hadn’t heard Kyungsoo calling his name, his voice soft yet urgent as he spoke it aloud for the first time since Junmyeon had introduced himself.

“Junmyeon.” the merman said, a question in his voice as he spoke his name, begging him to lift him and help him to his feet. There weren’t other people on the beach, and Junmyeon really was the only resident on the property, but it still felt odd to help Kyungsoo waddle back to the beach house without covering some of his skin up. The sun was already dying in the sky, the moon hovering over head and waiting to gleam bright.

“Oh, oh right.” he was quick then to take off the shirt he had been wearing, being careful as he worked the fabric down Kyungsoo’s head and onto his body, helping him fit his arms into the sleeves and then rolling them up to his elbows. When Junmyeon took Kyungsoo in his arms, helping him to his shaky feet, he noticed that the hem of the shirt just barely hid the new muscle that Kyungsoo had sprouted along with his new human legs.

But he was going to try not to look or think about that. 

The two did not speak for the time it took for Junmyeon to walk with Kyungsoo up to the beach house, open the door, and step inside. There was sand stuck to both of them, with Kyungsoo’s legs wobbly, shaking, and a bit soaking as well. His hair remained wet, too, and he shivered a little bit upon walking into the house.

“Why is it so cold in here?” he murmured softly, still shivering as Junmyeon brought him over to the low couch, not caring for how it would ruin the upholstery. 

“I’ll get you something warmer to wear, some blankets too. The water probably works differently than the air for you. It’s actually comfortable for me in here.” but those words had Kyungsoo looking up at him with wide eyes and shaking his head.

“That’s why my kind think you humans are monsters.” he said as he shivered, “Can’t tell when it’s freezing out.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at that, the sound of his laughter loud and sudden enough to startle Kyungsoo a little. But in the next moment, the merman was shaking his head and perking a smile in the corner of his lips. Junmyeon held onto that little image as he disappeared into the other room, grabbing a longer shirt, and then some loose black sweatpants as well. He wasn’t entirely sure that Kyungsoo would wear them, but it was worth a shot.

Returning with the items, he found the merman sitting up, back to him as his fingers danced along the coffee table before him. There were papers, notebooks and journals strewn across the redwood table, and a few pens and then a candle because Junmyeon was sentimental like that. It was a smell that reminded him of his grandmother, and of the stories she used to tell him before she passed away. 

He set the new shirt and the pair of pants down beside Kyungsoo, before he too, took a seat on the couch. Taking the blanket and draping it over Kyungsoo’s bare legs, Junmyeon asked him why he wanted to see the inside of his home.

The merman shrugged, an odd movement to see.

“I’ve always been curious, seeing the lights on inside. I’ve always wanted to see where you work, how you move in your own surroundings.” Kyungsoo froze then, growing a little shy as he pulled his legs up under his chin. Despite his trouble walking, he knew how to move the ligaments and pull the muscles within his legs, pull them closer to his body so he was bundled up altogether. “I know another of my kind that has taken a liking to humans, and he tells me stories of how the human is kind and loving toward him.”

Junmyeon kept quiet, wondering if it was a common thing, or more of a rare thing for the merfolk to fall for humans. He had known all his life that his family was an exception to the rule - the rule on staying away from the merfolk and anything having to do with the dangerous creatures beneath the waves. There were plenty of legends and mysteries of how the merfolk worked, and how they liked to play games with the humans whenever they travelled out to sea. 

His father had died before his grandmother had, but Junmyeon could remember very clearly from when he was a little boy the way his grandmother had walked him out to the pier and set the ashes in a long stream in the water, letting them mingle with the salt and the foam before they carried up on a wave and dispersed this way and that. He could just faintly remember the twist and turn of shimmer in the ocean below, a body turning right below the pier, right below their feet.

Junmyeon could have sworn he heard someone saying his father’s name over and over again, but he had been a boy and it hadn’t made sense. His grandmother had taken him back inside the beach house and told him not to speak a word of what they had just done.

When Junmyeon’s grandmother had died, he had gone out further than the pier to spread her ashes, knowing from her stories that she was close to the sea and the creatures that called it home. He had wondered so often in those last few days if this was what she would have wanted, as she had not expressly told him so. But he figured he was doing the right thing - and so when he spread her ashes, watching them sit there amongst the rocks as he sat atop them. He sighed before giving up, before letting them disperse amongst the waves.

But he had heard a faint “thank you” on the breeze, and he had turned to see a ripple in the water, the ashes that had once been there now gone, only a few specks remaining to bounce on the surface.

Junmyeon had no doubt now that there were some of the merfolk that had loved his family, and just like they had fallen, just like they had loved, now so did he.

He wondered if it was a genetic trait, or something the moon had destined them for. 

“You have been kind to me, but I still do not understand completely why.” Kyungsoo finished, taking Junmyeon back to the present after having been sucked into memories of his own. 

He glanced back at Kyungsoo, his legs still tucked securely beneath his chin, and his wide brown eyes not looking away from Junmyeon. They were set on his face, looking at the lines and small imperfections therein. He wondered what exactly Kyungsoo was searching for when he looked at his face, but decided first to answer his almost-question.

He shrugged, “You were hurting when I first saw you.” and he could remember very vividly, once again, the torn pieces of tail that had been covered in blood, and which had broken Junmyeon’s heart to see. He had bent down very carefully to pick the merman up, and had been even more careful in his attempt to hold him up in his arms while he stepped through the rocks, hoping he did not slip through and hurt himself. “And then, even after I carried you back to the water afterward, past the rocks enough so that you didn’t get hit by incoming boats, but far enough so that you didn’t risk your tail getting caught again, you came back. You came back to the rocks, came back to the shore. And you watched me as I swam, or watched as I lied in the sun.”

There was a bit of silence then, before Kyungsoo sprung to life a little, grabbing for the longer shirt Junmyeon had brought, yet ignoring the black sweatpants. He wondered if Kyungsoo was just averse to pants in general, or was trying to purposefully give Junmyeon a heart attack, with his thighs on display like that as he stood from where he was sitting.

“Show me around?” he asked then, making no comment on what Junmyeon had just said. So he stood, too, arm going out to help Kyungsoo walk. The merman ignored his arm, going on slow, wobbly legs, around the redwood table. Following after him slowly, but determined to do this on his own. It made Junmyeon smile a little as he watched. 

The beach house wasn’t the largest thing, but it was big enough to feel a little empty there on his own. Junmyeon would never abandon it, though, not in a million years. He had hoped to pass it down to his kids, or pass it down to another family member that would appreciate the seclusion, yet beauty of it. The view from the study in the back was the most beautiful, he had to admit.

Junmyeon decided to take Kyungsoo through the other rooms first, nodding back toward the room they had just exited, and explaining that was where he did most of the cooking, and maybe some writing as well, when he was tired enough to curl up onto the couch. The next room was his bedroom, though to call it a bedroom, or really any space to live in was a bit of a far cry. It had a bed in it, that much was true, but it was mostly taken up by shelves and shelves of books, clothing scattered between the shelves and the edge of the bed.

“How do you walk in here?” Kyungsoo asked, thick eyebrows rising as he turned to face Junmyeon. A bubbled up laugh escaped between his lips as he shrugged.

“You just walk on the clothes, I guess. Most of them are dirty, and I should probably clean them soon. I wasn’t really expecting company.” and with that answer, Kyungsoo took an experimental few steps forward, toes going out to touch the clothing on the floor and making an exasperated face back at Junmyeon. 

“It’s so unsteady.” he replied, before moving back beside Junmyeon. 

Without explaining further, he just shook his head and dared to reach out to wrap his fingers lightly around Kyungsoo’s wrist, tugging a bit so they could move onto the next room. 

“C’mon.” he whispered, and Kyungsoo followed obediently, slowly after him…

It took them longer than Junmyeon would have thought to reach the study, and that was partly because Kyungsoo wanted to see and smell and feel everything. They went to the laundry room, the pantry, the bathroom, and he was so mystified by how everything worked that Junmyeon just had to explain it to him. He liked the looks on his face as he explained how a washer and dryer worked, how food stayed preserved for months at a time if kept well enough - some of which was packed into cans and stored away for emergencies. Kyungsoo was awestruck, and it was a little funny too, because his hair had finally dried and it was standing up in odd pieces atop his head, looking like this soft, fluffy mess.

Junmyeon felt the desire to run his fingers through the dark, inky color of it, but held back.

When they reached the study, at last, Kyungsoo just stood there a little amazed. Junmyeon could tell from the look on his face that there weren’t words he could express. He walked closer to the windows, feet going slow as he lifted them one by one. It was a bit cute to see Kyungsoo trying to walk, even on a flat surface like the study floor. When he got to the window, his hands came up on the glass, his face getting closer to it as well and a lovely expression jumping on his face, lighting his features.

There hadn’t been many times when Junmyeon wanted to kiss someone, but he wanted to kiss Kyungsoo in that moment.

“It’s so pretty from up here.” Kyungsoo said after a while of looking out at the ocean, the sun having disappeared beyond the horizon, and the sky blooming a pretty rose-pink, with the water turning against the rocks like it was straight out of a movie. 

They continued like that, just in silence for several minutes until Kyungsoo turned with tears in his eyes that looked like malleable crystals falling from his eyes. Junmyeon had heard so often of how the merfolk did not cry around anyone - not even their own kind - unless they absolutely trusted the other person.

Kyungsoo stepped away from the window, not looking at the floor as he walked, and knocking into the chair at the side of the desk. And though it was a little cliche, he still fell over, Junmyeon’s arms going out to catch him, the tears still falling on his cheeks and down his skin in rivulets.

In a voice so beautiful Junmyeon thought surely he must be dreaming, Kyungsoo murmured, “Thank you.” and then reached up and pulled Junmyeon’s face to his and kissed him…

…

It had been days since Kyungsoo had caved and kissed Junmyeon. He didn’t feel guilty about it, but he could still taste the salt of his own tears and feel the mortal man’s fingers catching at them as they fell on his face, before they turned to little glowing crystals on his fingertips. 

When he had described the moment and the whole night to Baekhyun, how Kyungsoo had even remained inside the house and snuggled up close to the mortal man, the other merman couldn’t help but gush with him.

Although Kyungsoo would never refer to his emotions or descriptions of Junmyeon as ‘gushing’. They were softer than that, more refined maybe?

Or maybe he was just telling himself that and he was actually a softie at heart without knowing it.

“We should all meet up!” Baekhyun suggested excitedly, edge of his tail slapping Kyungsoo’s as he got closer. “I can ask Jongdae now. He’s been wanting to meet you for ages now. Well, wanting to meet anyone else for a while now. It’s been just the two of us lately.”

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow at that, wondering just how often Baekhyun sprouted his human legs and walked on the land. Even if it was close to the water, just across the way and on the docks...it still worried Kyungsoo, being too far from the ocean. He had heard too many horror stories, and even if he trusted Junmyeon at this point, part of him would always be cautious.

“And what would we even do?” he asked then, genuinely curious what Baekhyun would have them do. There was only so far they could go without getting sick, so far from the water. Even the thought of going far from the water they grew up in had adrenaline running through his veins. The thought was a bit terrifying.

Baekhyun shrugged, “Humans can swim too, ya know.” he said, all matter-of-factly. And Kyungsoo didn’t mind the slight backtalk, it was what he expected of Baekhyun, who was a friend more or less. Or at least, had been around long enough that Kyungsoo could consider him a friend. 

He sneered a bit, “I know that.” but then Baekhyun was laughing a little and he couldn’t help but smile, shaking his head. So he shrugged, figured _what could the harm be_ , and agreed for them all to meet up. 

Kyungsoo hadn’t even finished his sentence before Baekhyun was diving backwards into the water and twisting his tail so it expelled from the water on a wave, diving and swimming fast towards the other end of the way, skirting past other fish on his way there. Kyungsoo only shook his head and sighed, smiling a little and wondering how it was he had made friends with his complete opposite.

He let the change take him as he slipped just past the rocks, and was careful as he stepped naked from the water, walking slow toward Junmyeon’s beach house where Kyungsoo could see him writing in his little study. It didn’t take Junmyeon more than a few seconds to notice him coming up from the water, and that made him wonder if he had been watching Kyungsoo and Baekhyun wade there by the rocks, just talking briefly before Baekhyun spun off.

He didn’t mind it, even smiled a bit at the thought. The possibility that Junmyeon sat there and watched him as he wrote; the thought of Kyungsoo in his mind while he wrote his stories and journals.

Upon opening the door, Junmyeon did the unexpected and kissed Kyungsoo’s lips softly, making him turn an ever shade of pink, but also making him pull forward into Junmyeon’s warmth, the cool air hitting his skin hard as he was now dripping from the water.

“Come inside.” Junmyeon said, and took his hand.

No more than thirty seconds inside the beach house, and not even with proper clothes on yet either, Kyungsoo spits out, “My friend wants to meet you!” and Junmyeon’s eyes widen as he turns around, eyebrows rising and he can clearly see that he’s trying hard to school his expression in the next second. Kyungsoo reaches for the long shirt that Junmyeon always has out for him and tugs it over his head, the collar of it getting wet from his hair.

Junmyeon asks if this friend of his has been on land, too, and he says of course, detailing the relationship between Baekhyun and Jongdae as Baekhyun has described it to him. Close knit, soft and warm. Baekhyun had once described his relationship with Jongdae as “lightning” and Kyungsoo felt that was probably a good description for the two of them, and of what he knew of the human man.

If he were to describe his type of relationship, however tentative it was with Junmyeon, he would probably describe it like the force of a wave. It just knocked you over without any concern for your safety or wellbeing. It was overwhelming, but the cool waves, despite their ferocity, left him wanting to ride the next wave, and then the next.

Kyungsoo sighed after a while, asking, “Will you meet them?” and hoping that Junmyeon said yes, hoping that they would all get along well and not cause trouble.

There was no hesitation in the man’s voice when he answered Kyungsoo, just a simple, “Of course.” and a peck to the forehead. Simple, sweet, warm. Yet still like a crashing wave that it could have knocked him off his human legs. 

He smiled before wrapping his arms around Junmyeon’s body and burying his face in his neck.

…

When Kyungsoo awoke in the morning, it was to the sound of an alarm going off. Not the subtle phone alarm that Junmyeon kept on at times, but an actual alarm that ran through the whole home. He got up groggily, the shirt around his torso riding up enough that he had to pull it down before lifting from the bed. He stumbled a bit on his feet, but followed to where the sound was, and to where he found Junmyeon staring angrily at security footage. 

For such a decently small home, however private it was, Junmyeon had such a large security system attached to the property.

“The police told these people to stop coming here, but apparently they never give up.” and this was the first time that Kyungsoo had seen him truly angry. It was the next second that Junmyeon was turning and taking one of his hands in his, giving it a squeeze as his expression softened, anger still in his eyes. “Go back to bed, I’m gonna get rid of them.” he promised.

But Kyungsoo shook his head, holding up a finger to go and pull the sweatpants Junmyeon had kept out from that first night, the ones that Kyungsoo had refused to wear ever since setting foot inside the beach house.

“I’m going with you.” he said, determined. With a sigh, Junmyeon just nodded and passed him a pair of slippers to walk on the gravel. He took them if only because Junmyeon gave them to him. 

He walked a bit like a penguin while wearing them, but they protected his human feet from harm, all the small little rocks up the driveway, and then onto the gate. Where there was a car idling, waiting to come in. 

Kyungsoo recognized the passenger in the car immediately, even if he didn’t have a tail that gleamed like moonlight.

“Baekhyun?” 

The other merman - now with human legs of his own - hopped down from the car expertly, like he had been born human. He wasn’t wearing shoes, which was what gave him away that he was something other, but that didn’t matter. He wore a full body worth of clothes, an oversized shirt just as Kyungsoo did, and then denim jeans that Kyungsoo would have imagined were restricting and uncomfortable. Yet Baekhyun walked over in them quite easily, hands looping around the gate and waving at Junmyeon, too.

“Aren’t you gonna tell him to let us in, Soo?” Baekhyun asked playfully, “I brought Jongdae.” and he nodded back towards the car, where the human man sat in the front seat and waved just as enthusiastically as Baekhyun did. Definitely meant to be, those two.

Junmyeon replied first, not even waiting for Kyungsoo to explain who these two were. He supposed he already knew who they were, after the two had talked about them last night. Though, Kyungsoo hadn’t exactly expected Baekhyun to drive with the human in his car from across the bay. He wondered how long he’d been outside the water, especially if he’d slept the night as Baekhyun often said he did.

It was interesting, and a little mindboggling. Already, Kyungsoo’s own body was telling him to return to the sea, the evident pull in his heart asking, begging for it. But he remained where he was, turning to Junmyeon as he spoke up.

“You two are welcome inside.” Junmyeon said, pressing a simple button from the remote in his pocket, opening the gate. 

Baekhyun quickly took his hands from the bars, stepping back, and then going back inside the car to tell Jongdae where to park, close to the only beach house within the lot. Junmyeon and Kyungsoo walked the way back after closing up the gate, and as soon as the car parked, Baekhyun came almost skipping over to Kyungsoo to pull him away from Junmyeon, telling him to come into the water with him.

It didn’t take long for the other merman to go stripping and then diving into the water from off the end of the pier’s dock, dunking underneath and creating waves of his own. Kyungsoo couldn’t help his laughter, even as he looked back at Junmyeon and nodded toward the water. Junmyeon waved him away, not so much allowing him because whatever he said, Kyungsoo had control over his own body, but more so telling him that he’d be waiting and watching as he did so, standing by dutifully.

And he could have sworn he was hearing things, and maybe it was because he had never heard Jongdae’s voice yet, but Kyungsoo could have sworn he heard the two exchange words.

“We’ve got real lucky, haven’t we?” Jongdae asked.

And Junmyeon replied with a short, abrupt laugh, the sound dying before he said, “Yes.” and Kyungsoo dove into the water.


End file.
